Abstract
This essay critically analyzes what it means to be an American. The author attempts to investigate how the way in which we define ourselves within our racial or ethnic categories affects our identities as Americans.

From the Paper
"One's identity and self esteem is constantly being molded by a number of ongoing factors. Culture a factor of many. A persons cultural upbringing predetermines how that specific person will live his or her life. It also determines how that person will respect other cultures, as well as his own. A complex nation is America, and the opinions of Americans can vary greatly. Mary C. Waters relays the concept of "ethnic options," which is a term which means the freedom to choose your ethnicity, based on the specific situation. Waters strongly believes that Americans with European ancestry are at a significantly greater advantage over non-Whites in America. Therefore, according to Waters, the ways in which we define ourselves within our racial and ethnic categories, can compliment or vanish our identities as Americans."

Tags:american, ethnic, racial, identity, value, attitude, self-esteem

Abstract
This paper takes a look at why culture-clash often occurs when different cultures meet and explains that it is often due to ignorance about the other culture, as well as excessive feelings of pride and superiority by the members of one or both cultures.

From the Paper
"Despite its many claims and indeed efforts to the contrary, the United States of America has always been a country of division and segregation. Race, gender and class differences thus even today play an important role in the construction of society, ethnicity and indeed the social construction of prejudicial views. This means that these prejudicial views regarding the superiority or inferiority of any group of people are socially rather than biologically constructed (Lorber in Rothenburg, 2004, p. 54). The tragic thing about such social constructs is the fact that children grow up without critically examining the potentially erroneous views with which they grew up. Indeed, young boys and girls often grow up voicing and strengthening within themselves the very prejudices advocated to them by their parents. The derogatory phrase, "like a girl" (Messner in Rothenburg, 2004, p. 57), is an example of this. Such expressions signify the deep-seated inequalities still prevalent in society, and how these are reinforced in the young generation."

Tags:superior, position, inferiority, inequality, lower, classes, gender, identity, self-concept

Abstract
The paper explores the theme of racial identity in these three novels. The similarities in plot are highlighted For example; each novel's plot is centered on a character's attempt to transcend their racial otherness in order to be accepted by American society. The paper concludes with a discussion on Randolph Bourne's essay "Trans-national America", relating it to Morrison's desire to avoid racial hierarchy, and showing how the protagonists of the novels do not fit into this multi-cultural scheme.

From the Paper
"The crisis at the center of Abraham Cahan's story is presented as a conflict between Jake's ethnic past, his racial otherness in America and his ambition to be, in his words, "a Yankee". Early on in the story, Yekl, in his ambition to be an American, changes his name to Jake, because the name Yekl is associated with a Russian past he is not able to "reconcile with the actualities of his American present". Essentially, one cannot be a Russian Jew and an American, to be an American one needs to repudiate their ethnic past. This crisis gets even further developed when Jake's wife arrives from Russia.

To Jake, his wife is an embodiment of the ethnic identity he wishes to efface. When he first sees her off the boat "his heart had sunk at the sight of his wife's uncouth and un-American appearance." For her part, she looks at Jake in his American garb and sees barely a semblance of the man she married. For Cahan, the process of assimilation and Americanization is a process that destroys one's ethnic identity, and the foil of Jake and Gitl illustrates a sort of before and after picture meant to demonstrate that."

Tags:racial, similarities, plot, society, acceptance, Randolph, Bourne, trans-national, hierarchy, protagonists, multi-cultural

Abstract
This paper discusses Cope's study on attempts at racism in colonial Mexico and the reasons why racism never truly flourished. The paper concludes by agreeing with Cope's study and the light it sheds on racism and class and self-identity.

From the Paper
"The failure of Spanish elites to impose their own definitions of race on the people of the traza shows the difficulty of imposing one's cultural ideas and definitions on another society. In the case of colonial Mexico, for example, the Spanish clearly wanted to establish a social order based on race. To them, a person's social mobility hinges on how much Spanish blood they possess."

Tags:social, constructs, racial, categorization, Mexican, colonialism, ethnic, division

Abstract
This paper examines the role that ethnicity and race play in determining one's identity and how this can have both positive and negative consequences. The negative consequences are best demonstrated when a person's race or ethnic background prevent him from integrating into society. The paper looks at this aspect of ethnic and racial identity and the role the social worker has in helping people of different ethnicities and races integrate into society. The problems that arise as social workers take on this role are discussed as well.

From the Paper
"People often identify along racial and ethnic lines. This usually isn't antagonistic; it usually consists of maintaining traditions and values and thereby forms the basis for social interaction. For such people, ethnicity provides a sense of purpose in their own identity. Celebrations like Diwali and Rosh Hashanna remind people (in this case, Indian and Jewish people) of their traditions and are a source of pride. Among the most lively and endearing parts of any city are its ethnic communities, as they allow us to experience not only different holidays, cuisine and customs but also to gain a more circumspect appreciation of human nature and the way that people interact."

Tags:mainstream, multiculturalism, foregin, born, communities, equal, rights, discrimination-free, environment, racism

Abstract
This paper discusses Nathan Glazer's "The Emergence of an American Ethnic Pattern". The paper explains Glazer's opinion that affirmative action is creating a 'tribal' America. The paper contends that rather than a cohesive American identity, Glazer argues that Americans are becoming increasingly identified with their personal racial, religious and ethnic differences. The paper disagrees with Glazer's views and states that affirmative action acknowledges a historical past that cannot be ignored when creating the future and also offers a potential vision of a new America, based upon a vision of a beautiful, pluralistic mosaic of identity.

From the Paper
"True, civil rights and voting rights have remedied some of the abuses codified in American law. Still, the social ramifications of the legal disenfranchisement of African Americans, Indian Americans, and other disenfranchised groups still exist with these once legally discriminated against communities. The social actions of lynching, local laws discriminating against Chinese and Catholic Americans, the denial of land rights to American Indians, and other social abuses still have long-standing social effects that do not disappear as the words of the 'Jim Crow' laws disappeared from the law books of the South. Discrimination today exists, even if it is not in law, it does in fact and common, often unspoken practice."

Tags:affirmative, action, racism

Abstract
The paper discusses how America, despite having achieved some progress over recent years, is still facing burning issues concerning cultural, social and economic inequality among ethnic groups. The paper compares the characters of Percola Breedlove of "The Bluest Eye" and Willie Spearmint of "The Tenant". The paper portrays how both characters have accepted Western world views pertaining to personal success and achievement and how their African identity is being eroded by white values and perceptions.

Outline:
Introduction
Seeing the World Through Black Eyes
Aspects of Americanization

From the Paper
"It was during the late nineteen-thirties when Percola Breedlove, a social 'case', went to live at the MacTeers house. America, during this period, was still suffering from the effects of the Great Depression, and Europe had recently gone to war. Percola, at just eleven years old, was a young girl at the beginning of puberty, who was only just beginning to understand society's standards concerning physical attributes and characteristics. However, it was not long before she discovered the truth about herself; she was an ugly, black bitch - the proof of which was clearly evident through the fact that she was both unwanted and unloved by both her family and society."

Tags:identity, African-American, values, Willie, Spearmint, Percola, Breedlove

Abstract
This paper explains that the social identity theory (SIT) relates that minorities often feel the effects of low social status and popular bias, but they also can use their own group solidarity to raise their level of group self-esteem. The author points out that minority police officers are members of two major distinct, yet interactive groups: The police, based on the occupation pursued by the group's members, and their own minority group, derived from the racial, ethnic, and cultural characteristics of the group's members, as they are perceived by the majority group. The paper states that generally, in many countries in recent years, there has been a decline in the public's estimation of the police, a group once held in high regard, because of rising crime rates. It points out, however, that an Asian or Black police officer, more at home in his own community, can work more smoothly with that community's residents than majority officers can.

From the Paper
"The juxtaposition of both real-life and fictional examples of the operation of prejudice against minority police officers is quite telling, for it shows that while actually incidents do exist, it is also taken as axiomatic that such situations must exist in order for such fictional dramas to have the ring of fact. From just such examples, it must be concluded that, in this case, both the majority and the minority, hold similar views."

Tags:self-esteem, ooccupation, minority, crime, community

Abstract
This paper looks at the reality of the post colonial West Indies, how it was a multitude of societies constructed on the basis of racial and ethnic categories that ensured the colonial exploitation of European imperialism and exploitation of people and resources. By looking at the reality of post-colonial West Indies, an issue at the heart of this discussion is race and identity. Some of the most popular writers of that time are reviewed to examine this important subject.

Abstract
With their dramatic increase in population and the racial unrest that resulted in the destruction of Korean businesses during the Los Angeles civil unrest, Korean Americans have emerged as one of the visible ethnic groups in the country. This paper uses a series of interviews with a typical Korean-American family to evaluate its perceptions of their ethnicity. It compares and contrasts how Father Park and Mother Park's definitions differ from the experiences of their daughter Sunny. It gives particular focus on how the members of the two generations accord a different importance to learning the Korean language. In the conclusion, the paper evaluates how the Park family uses language to shore up their definitions of ethnicity. By looking at the role language plays in the Park's definitions of being "Korean" or being "American," this paper contributes to the larger literature on the different methods people employ to construct their ethnic identities.

From the Paper
"The Parks would like Sunny to "remember where she came from," and for them, remembering is strongly connected with language and with an acceptance of Korean-ness. While they recognize that Sunny was born and raised in the United States and cannot help but be a product of this social and cultural environment, they also express doubts on whether Sunny can truly classify herself as "American" or be accepted by others as an American.
Part of the Parks' stand is understandable, since they are naturally projecting their experiences of marginalization onto their daughter. Since language was an important foundation in the construction of social identity in their host country, they assume this will be the same for Sunny."

Tags:non-American, Hye-Young, Jo, stereotypes